This blog features observations from Randy Turner, a former teacher, newspaper reporter and editor. Send news items or comments to rturner229@hotmail.com

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Stacey Newman: Missouri Legislature bowed to the gun lobby

(From Rep. Stacey Newman, D-St. Louis)

2016 VETO SESSION - GUNS & VOTER SUPPRESSION

*Since January 1, 2016 Missouri has had at least 355 deaths due to gun violence (via media sources) ---106 gun deaths were in rural communities throughout the state.

*In 2015, Missouri was #1 in the U.S. in toddlers shootings - little kids under 3 years old shot themselves or others. We are on track to be the leader again this year.

*Gun violence is rampant across the country - suicides, domestic violence incidents, mass shootings, school shootings & "accidental" kid shootings. SEE FOR YOURSELF.

MISSOURI LEGISLATURE'S RESPONSE?

Bow to the gun lobby!

Completely ignore law enforcement, mayors, prosecutors, faith leaders and the medical community as the GOP majority voted to override the governor's veto of SB656.

For the first time in my memory, the Missouri Police Chiefs Association, the Missouri Fraternal Order of Police and the Missouri Catholic Conference all publicly opposed a NRA-sponsored gun bill- citing the danger to law enforcement, let alone the rest of us.

"In an alarming victory for the gun lobby, Missouri’s Republican-controlled Legislature voted Wednesday to override Gov. Jay Nixon’s veto and enact a wholesale retreat from gun safety in the state. The law will let citizens carry concealed weapons in public without a state gun permit, criminal background check or firearms training. It strips local law enforcement of its current authority to deny firearms to those guilty of domestic violence and to other high-risk ndividuals. And it establishes a dangerous “stand your ground” standard that will allow gun owners to shoot and claim self-defense based on their own sense of feeling threatened. The measure has drawn no great national attention, but it certainly provides further evidence that gun safety cannot be left to state lawmakers beholden to the gun lobby."

THE NRA'S BIGGEST PRIORITY IN THE COUNTRY:

A message received by GOP legislators:

I stood for over an hour and a half - without sitting - waiting to debate against SB656 Wednesday evening.

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However, just like during session in May on SB656, Speaker Todd Richardson refused to recognize me - even though I have taken the lead in my caucus for the past seven years in fighting against gun violence.

This is a regular practice by the GOP leadership to deny my district a voice in gun bill debates - particularly glaring in that Washington University in St. Louis (whom I represent) has made gun violence an ongoing initiative through theirInstitute for Public Health.

However, I did speak against SB656 during the House Democratic Press Conference late Wednesday night following adjournment of Veto Session:WATCH HERE.

350 concerts happening in almost every state in the country - CLICK HERE to find one near you.

Organized by my friend Donna Dees Thomases (founder of the 2000 Million Mom March) - musicians coast to coast are banding together on the same day to #EndGunViolence. Numerous faith-based musical events are also happening during services that same Sunday throughout the U.S.

I will be at Central Reform Congregation in St. Louis 6pm - 8 pm (5020 Waterman Ave) with a fabulous group of reknowned St. Louis cabaret singers, produced and directed by Katie Dunne McGrath ----RESERVE YOUR FREE TICKET HERE.

As expected, the majority overrode the voter ID bill veto in the HOUSE115-41 and SENATE 24-7 -strictly by a partisan vote (EVERY GOP VOTED YES, EVERY DEM VOTED NO).

Missouri GOP advocates imposing a photo voter ID requirement for the sole purpose of disenfranchising large numbers of minority, elderly and disabled voters. Those groups are the most likely not to have a government-issued photo ID and, not coincidentally, overwhelmingly tend to support Democratic candidates.

​There has never been a documented case of in-person voter impersonation fraud reported in Missouri. That is the only type of fraud a photo voter ID could prevent.

REMINDER: HB1641 -VOTER ID REQUIREMENTS - IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL UNTIL VOTERS APPROVE THE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT ON THE BALLOT NOVEMBER 8TH.

7 comments:

The voter ID law has a provision that will pay for an ID for someone that doesn't have one. There would be no excuse not to have one except for laziness. How could voter impersonation be caught if you don't have to present an ID now to prove who you are now?

The constitutional carry bill doesn't force anyone to buy a gun that doesnt want one, doesn't allow people to carry where guns aren't allowed, and probably won't have a large effect on the number of gun owners as a whole.

Well, yeah, that makes Missouri the 4th state to go Constitutional Carry (CC) in this year alone, making 10 undisputed CC states (it's disputed in Arkansas and Puerto Rico):

Vermont forever (they never enacted anti-black and immigrant gun laws like the rest of the states).Alaska: 2003Arizona: 2010 (and a larger population than Missouri, and at least as "diverse")Wyoming: 2011 (residents only)Kansas: 2015, a solid year and a half ago. And Dodge City did not become "Dodge City".Maine: 2015

You know the gun grabbers are getting panicked by the trend, 2 last year, 4 this year, that's the sort of pattern that leads to more and more states joining a trend when they see no big problems in so many other states. Especially since the GOPe(stablishment) has very little else positive to show for us giving them our votes.

And the NYT's claim about Stand Your Ground is a blatant lie in implication. All it establishes (and read the law, the 3rd amendment added to the law, it's very simple) is that you don't have a duty to retreat from anywhere you have a right to be. A provision that has been used many times to throw law abiding citizens in prison for the temerity of believing their lives were worth something, and not being able to find a way to safely retreat in like a prosecutor can claim in the calm, 20/20 hindsight of a courtroom. (It's not strictly a blatant lie, because anyone can claim self-defense in any situation, it's all about what laws the executive and judiciary have to follow in treating that claim.)

True Democrats want nothing more than that all of you Republicans have all the firearms and ammunition your little hearts desire. When you all get drunk and start shooting up your environment, it ain't Democrats who get hit by the fallback.

About Me

I am a former teacher in the Joplin and Diamond, Missouri, school districts. Before entering the teaching field, I spent 22 years as a reporter and editor for various Southwest Missouri newspapers. I have published three novels, Small Town News, Devil's Messenger, and No Child Left Alive, and seven non-fiction books, The Turner Report, Newspaper Days, Silver Lining in a Funnel Cloud, Greed, Corruption, and the Joplin Tornado, 5:41: Stories from the Joplin Tornado, Spirit of Hope: The Year After the Joplin Tornado, Scars from the Tornado and Let Teachers Teach.

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